1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to tissue dispensing apparatus, and particularly to plastic overwrap packages of facial tissues of a novel form capable of effecting interleaved tissue dispensing from wall-mounted type dispensing cabinets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In prior art tissue dispensing systems, it is well-known to mount a cardboard carton of "pop-out" type multifolded, multi-ply facial tissues in a wall mounted, tissue dispenser cabinet, to form a tissue dispensing system. Such a system permits tissues to be removed sequentially from a carton through an aperture in the carton and in the cabinet respectively.
To develop efficient "pop-out" sequential dispensing, the prior art teaches making and using a variety of forms of improved cardboard cartons for housing clips or stacks of tissue as well as new folding arrangements of the tissues in the clip. Such carton forming and tissue folding techniques, in most instances, were developed in an attempt to overcome problems associated with interruptions in sequential dispensing of tissues caused mainly by a trailing tissue falling back into the carton after a leading tissue had been removed from the carton. Some of these improved carton packages of tissues are suitable for use in dispenser cabinets.
An illustrative environment where application of the principles of the present invention is particularly advantageous is in tissue dispensing cabinets such as, for example, the cabinet as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,840,268 to Casey et al dated June 24, 1958. The patent describes a cabinet designed to conveniently hold a standard box of facial tissue. The described cabinet comprises a rectilinear enclosure having mutually-joined panels forming a top, a bottom, two ends and a back and having a face plate covering the rectilinear enclosure. The face plate contains an elongated opening disposed to permit removal of tissues from the box held within the enclosure.
One form of a standard carton for housing facial tissues suitable for use in the aforementioned dispenser cabinet is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,698 to Scholz dated Feb. 20, 1968. The carton, a cardboard container has a pair of opposed side walls, a bottom wall, a pair of opposed end walls and a top wall having a dispensing slot through which a leading edge of a tissue is threaded, the leading edge of the threaded tissue can be gripped and easily removed. The described carton contains a clip or stack of interleaved, unconnected, multi-ply tissues arranged for sequential dispensing through the dispensing slot. The tissues usually comprise a unitary structure made up of at least two plies of thin, lightweight, absorbent, creped cellulosic sheet material. In the conventional interleaving arrangement of the clip for tissue dispensing, a portion of the first half of the leading tissue protrudes through the dispensing slot while the second half remains on the stack within a medial fold of the next tissue in the stack. When the leading tissue is pulled through the dispensing slot, the first half of the next tissue follows the second half of the leading tissue through the dispensing slot. Normally, this mode of tissue dispensing can be readily accomplished, particularly when the carton is more than half full of tissues. However, as the stack of tissues is depleted, the span of travel from tissue stack to dispensing slot becomes greater and there is more chance for the first half of the next trailing tissue in the stack to become disengaged from the secondhalf of the leading tissue before entry into the dispensing slot. This disengagement of the tissues is generally referred to as "fallback".
The patent describes a solution to the fall-back problem in disclosing a new type of interleaving arrangement used in the lower half of the tissue stack. The new type of interleaving requires the first half of the trailing tissue to be enclosed between the top and bottom plies of the second half of the leading tissue.
Another prior art dispensing carton which could be used in a dispensing cabinet and which discloses a further means for solving the aforementioned tissue fall-back problem is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,699 to Enloe et al dated February 20, 1968. There, further improvements for solving the fall-back problem is described. The patent teaches increasing the frictional resistance to tissue movement in one direction for better dispensing control. A pair of lip-like constricting plastic film members through which the inerleaved tissues may be sequentially drawn is fastened to the underside of a top wall and over a truncated elliptical shaped dispensing slot to form a narrow and straight slot having flexible film material disposed in side-by-side relationship.
When the leading tissue is withdrawn from the carton, the first half of the trailing tissue is held ready for withdrawal by being gripped by the constricting plastic members disposed within the dispensing slot. However, because the leading or protruding tissue is weighted down by frictional engagement with the first half of the trailing tissue, the leading tissue tries to slide back into the carton. In most cases, the gripping force exerted on the protruding tissue by the constricting flexible lips of the narrow slow is sufficient to hold the tissue from falling back into the carton onto the stack even though the downward gravitational force exerted by the sliding action and weight on the trailing tissues cause the flexible lips of material to arc backward within the carton. However, when the level of tissues in the stack becomes low, the backward force exerted on the leading tissue gradually increases until such force is sufficient to exceed the gripping force of the constricting lips in the dispensing slot causing fall back to occur. The patent describes an inventive solution to this fall-back problem; namely it provides means of increasing the coefficient of friction on the upper surface of the film in the areas immediately adjacent to the dispensing slot whereby the leading tissue may be gripped more substantially. The patent describes means for increasing the coefficient of friction in such areas by the application of granular particles to the upper surface of the plastic film or alternatively to provide a number of spaced, upwardly directed punctures in the flexible material.
Another prior art regular size or carton size package useful for tissue dispensing is a plastic film wrapped package of tissues. One such film wrapped package is comprised of a fin sealed band of 1 mil thick, high density cellophane with the ends of the band pinch sealed to form small flaps at each end of the package. To gain entry of the package in order to remove the tissue from a "c-fold" tissue clip, a perforated line is provided which extends the full length of the package. Such a package is not, probably, very suitable for dispensing tissues from a dispensing cabinet since there appears to be no structural provisions provided that would permit such utilization.
As is apparent from the foregoing descriptions of the prior art rather extensive modifications to the carton package or to the stack of tissues are needed to form an improved dispensing carton system suitable for use in a wall-mounted cabinet dispenser. A search for various other means to avoid the fall-back problem as well as to provide a better dispensing package for use in a wall dispenser cabinet was initiated. This search was successful and resulted in the present invention.
The present invention is directed to the improved product which resulted from confronting and solving the basic fall-back problem as described above. In the course of the development, additional unforseen problems were also solved as will be apparent.